The leak about the WoW expansion “The Dragon Isles” makes Cortyn ponder. Much sounds good – but the risk of repeating old mistakes is present.
World of Warcraft is currently causing me some headaches. Those who know me and my articles a little know that I have been covering the game on MeinMMO for almost a decade, and have also been playing it regularly and almost continuously since “Vanilla”. Sometimes there are minor breaks, but basically, I have always stayed engaged.
Right now, I am playing WoW as little as I have in a long time. Apart from the weekly guild night and occasional RP, I am more inclined to explore other games.
All the more I enjoy the first leaks about the next expansion – regardless of whether they turn out to be fake or true. I like speculating and dreaming, thinking “What if” about the next expansion. Perhaps there will even be housing – definitely right after the dance studio.
The first leak that seemed somewhat convincing was about the expansion “The Dragon Isles”. And if it comes as leaked, it should be an important and correct step in the right direction.
Shadowlands – I liked a lot, but I understand the discontent
I see many things not as critically as the vocal part of the Reddit community of World of Warcraft. I really enjoyed the foreign setting of the Shadowlands. The intention was to represent the afterlife of the Warcraft universe, and that was quite well achieved. It was completely logical for me that this had little to do with Azeroth.
I loved Ardenweald, and the sometimes playful cruelty of the Fae was great.
I liked Bastion and the Kyrians with their perspective, which is hard to grasp for mortals, that one must lose all memories.
I liked the decadent Venthyr who purify souls and thereby enable an afterlife of luxury.
All of this was foreign and far from what Warcraft actually is – but unfortunately, it was made tedious by a very boring antagonist in the form of the Jailer and increasingly veiled motives that never clarify anything.
Moreover, there was the whole issue of “forcing people into content they do not want to play”. I had a lot of fun in Torghast, and I still enjoyed the 100th run. However, I fully understand all players who did not want to grind in the tower every week just to earn legendary items.
Unfortunately, this obligation can be observed in almost all content. Those who wanted to be good at PvP also had to play PvE to obtain particularly good media. Those who wanted to be successful in raids had to suffer through PvP and also target mythic dungeons.
Almost always the scenario was: “Do you want to be good in content X? Then you also have to play Y and Z.”
This mindset is something World of Warcraft must move away from. Sometimes intertwining the systems is okay, but in WoW, it has become so prevalent that players spend more time in content they do not want to play than in the ones they actually want to.
This is of course not a problem for all those who have fun with the wide range of offerings that WoW provides. Those who enjoy all systems are not bothered by this intertwining. But let’s be honest:
The number of players who genuinely enjoy every content and also for months is low.
The Dragon Isles – Leak brings hope
As with every new expansion, supposed leaks about the next expansion are circulating on the internet. The most promising one so far – and the most convincing due to in-game data – is the release of the addon “The Dragon Isles”.
The expansion would return to the planet Azeroth and focus on the healing of the planet.
We have already discussed the leak about “The Dragon Isles” in detail.
I like almost everything that the leak has promised so far.
The primary setting, the Dragon Isles, is essentially still a blank slate. Originally, the area was planned for Vanilla, but it was ultimately not implemented and has been dormant since. Aside from a few mentions in the story – the most recent by Wrathion – there is virtually no information about the islands.
There is plenty of room for something “completely new,” which does not feel as foreign and unreal as the Shadowlands.
The fact that it will also involve a return to Azeroth and an “original” storyline appeals to me. I have always liked the dragons as characters, especially Ysera and Alexstrasza, and I would have liked to learn more about them after the Cataclysm. They seemed a little underused in recent expansions, even though Ysera did make an appearance in Shadowlands.
I also like the second aspect of the leak: the redesign of already known areas. I consider the undertaking to rework all zones again as in “Cataclysm” to be too large. But modernizing some areas with each content patch and throughout the storyline sounds appealing. Just bringing a few old classics up to date. Perhaps the lava rift in the Barrens has been closed by now? How has Tanaris developed over the years? Perhaps as cool as in the Hearthstone expansion? What has happened to the Plaguelands, have they been fully cleaned up by now?
There is great potential for interesting and cool innovations while preserving the old charm.
I do not want to comment on the possible gameplay systems around the “personified Azeroth.” This must be considered in detail to determine whether it is just another “Borrowed Power” system or something genuinely new that is well thought out and long-lasting.
I find the announcement of black dragons as a playable race a bit unrealistic. While it is something that players have wished for many years, a species that can simply take on all cosmetic options of the other species sounds a bit strange, to truly fit the gaming reality. It would simply ruin identification with all the other races.
Basically, it sounds promising. Because the Dragon Isles have been long established in the lore and were originally meant to be part of Classic.
The fact that “old areas” will be revamped during the expansion to promote the healing of the planet should also please many players.
As always, it is: Hope for the best
In the end, it is as it is before every new expansion of World of Warcraft. The hope is there that Blizzard has learned from the mistakes of the past and with Patch 10.0 and the newest expansion finally delivers more of what every single player group wants.
But if we are honest: This hope has not only been held by me but also by many others for years. After Battle for Azeroth, one thought that it could not go any further downhill – then Shadowlands proved the opposite. And of course, everyone knows that the same hope is held over and over again, and from an outside perspective, one or another could skeptically ask: Do you even realize what is going on? If it does not get better after so many years, then just give up!
But I do not want that. For me, World of Warcraft has been an important part of my daily life and a game I always enjoy returning to. It would be nice if the next expansion ensures that this will be the case again for many years.
Let us hope that the Dragon Isles – should they be the next addon – will restore World of Warcraft to its former glory and lead WoW back to what once made it so successful.
After all: New hints make the dragon addon even more likely…
